Things That Go Bump in the Dark
by MayFairy
Summary: Romana is angry at the Doctor's irrational and reckless way of going about things, and he tries to figure out what's really upsetting her. When the TARDIS turns the lights out, some interesting things happen that take them both by surprise...Four/RomanaI


**A random one-shot from me, because I find it both a crime and a tragedy that there are no Four/RomanaI romance fics in the archive, and this idea has been in my head for a while now. Admittedly, there is some stuff in here which is very similar to some of my 'Confusing Thoughts in Paris' fic, but it's more suited here. **

**It's probably not brilliant, because I just wrote it today in a small amount of time, but I felt like doing it. Because I know that generally Lalla Ward is the more liked Romana, but something about Mary Tamm's Romana, her haughtiness and snark, just makes her incredibly close to my heart, and in my opinion, generally more impressive. However, I do also love Romana II infinitely as well. **

**So, this is set some time after Romana finds out about the White and Black Guardians...(and for those who are my regulars reading this with no narrative knowledge, the White Guardian sent them to get the Key to Time, so that he could restore balance, while the Black Guardian is the evil one who wants to use it to create chaos).**

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><p>"Doctor, what I don't understand, is why you didn't just tell me about the Guardians in the first place!" Romanadvoratrelundar reprimanded the Doctor, who was disinterestedly beginning another game of chess with K-9.<p>

"I didn't think it was entirely necessary," The Doctor said vaguely as he put the pieces into place.

"Not entirely necessary?" Romana repeated, anger and frustration beginning to swell in her hearts at his incompetence, "As I said before, what if something had happened to you, and I had had to go on alone, with no knowledge of who I was truly retrieving the Key to Time for, or of the fact that one of the greatest entities of the universe would be trying to get his hands on it! How could that in any way be a good idea?"

"You are perfectly capable of managing on your own, Romana, I wouldn't discredit yourself so much," He replied, still not looking at her even once.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," She said, holding back a snap as she crossed her arms.

"Look, Romana, could you just leave it? You know now, I hardly see the point of going on about it."

"But you always- oh, never mind!" She said irritably, turning to storm from the room, muttering under her breath.

"Capricious, arrogant, incompetent, self-absorbed…"

The Doctor caught some of the insults and realised that it was more than one of their usual heated banters this time. He paused the game with K-9, and made to follow her quickly.

"Romana!" He called, but the moment he entered the TARDIS hallway, the lights turned out, and he heard her squeak of surprise not far away.

"Doctor? Where are you?" She asked almost worriedly, and he stretched his arms out in the direction of her voice.

"I'm here, Romana, take my hands," He said calmly, and he felt her smaller hands grab onto his larger ones, and then his scarf, coming to stand mere inches from him. As he put his hands gently on her shoulders so as to make sure that she didn't move – or at least, that was what he told himself, another part of him seemed to be suggesting an ulterior motive – he realised that he could smell her hair…it smelt pleasantly like a mix of peaches and apples, and for a moment had him rather distracted.

"You really should think about checking your ship more often, Doctor, if circuits are always going faulty like this," She commented in a fond sort of scolding way after a moment's silence.

"Don't try and change the subject, Romana, I believe that we were in the middle of something rather important. Perhaps you would care to remind me?" He asked in a strangely pleasant way for someone who knew that he was about to be told off.

"Ah, well, yes…" Romana said slowly, as though she had forgotten, "I was doing my best to be mad at you."

"All just because of that nonsense about the Guardians?" He sounded sceptical, but in the dark she could not be sure. Also, in the back of her mind, she found it strange that she was more aware of his tall, intimidating masculine presence in the dark than when she could actually see him.

"I would hardly call it nonsense, Doctor, but no, it wasn't just that." She admitted, sounding almost…embarrassed?

The Doctor felt himself become highly confused. His companions were usually so easy to figure out, but Romana was a handful. Within minutes of meeting, they had instantly clashed and almost yelled at each other in exasperation. No companion had ever been so frightfully intelligent and also be able to manage to show a blatant child-like naivety at the same time, as well as being both almost boringly predictable and uncannily surprising. Yes, Romana was almost as much of a walking contradiction as he himself was…almost.

"Well then, what was it?" He found himself asking after a few seconds of thought.

"You act as though you you don't trust me! You treat me like a child, yet sometimes ask enormous tasks of me regardless, you do everything wrong that is possible to be done wrong, but somehow everything still works, and frankly, it's almost as though the Universe is trying to show me that everything I learnt at the Academy was a complete waste of time!" She stopped for a breath and he tried to interrupt her.

"Romana-"

"Don't you 'Romana' me. Because that's another thing…what gives you the right to not only change my name, but to also choose my new one? I told you that I don't like the name Romana, yet you insist on calling me by it! You can't just be in charge of everything, you know, I may only be an assistant, but do try and remember that I _did _graduate from the Academy with a Triple First, and am perfectly capable of handling complicated tasks!" She cut him off crossly, but he tried again.

"Romana-"

"You make me feel as though I know nothing, and I hate it! You may be far more experienced than me, Doctor, but surely there must be _some_ area where I surpass you at _something_!"

"Oh, undoubtedly." He said seriously, and she bristled.

"Exactly, you- _what_?" She processed what he had said, and found herself confused and out of words, taken by surprise.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Romana…I do know that you are able to complete complex tasks…frankly, you're one of the brightest people that I've met, and half of the reason I put you to the side is because I know that there's a chance that you'll realise that you are just as capable as I am, and there's already more than enough ego between the two of us on this ship…I didn't want to add any more." The Doctor explained, and she frowned.

"Oh. Well…alright. But don't push me to the side anymore, and please don't treat me like a child!" She said eventually, still a little angry despite being much abated.

"I promise."

"But do you? You're so absorbed in being right sometimes that I can never tell, how can you prove that you don't see me as a child-" Her words cut off as her mouth suddenly became busy.

The Doctor had bent down and kissed her, knowing from his experience over the centuries that it was an effective way of shutting women up, and that with Romana it would be no different.

Not to mention, he had been thinking about it rather a lot recently. It wasn't his fault…if the Guardian was going to supply him with a companion so beautiful – and he really meant it, she was, with no exaggeration, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life – he could hardly be held accountable for his actions. Especially when she was as infuriating and intelligent as she was. How was he supposed to resist?

He eventually and reluctantly pulled away, leaving her still startled.

"Oh," She said slightly breathlessly, clearly still surprised.

He chuckled. "I've been wanting to do that ever since I first saw you…now, would I do that to a child?"

Romana smirked slightly, but he couldn't see it. "No, I don't suppose that you would…"

At that moment, the lights turned back on, but they were still in mid-conversation.

"Yes, remind me to try it again sometime…" He said with a grin, and Romana, amused, adjusted her dress before making for the door to the console room.

"I will," She replied, smiling, "You know, you are an incredibly hard person to stay mad at, Doctor. Now, I think I might go and find out our next destination…"

"Good, yes, you do that, Romana," He said with a nod as she left. He looked up at the ceiling and frowned before also walking into the console room.

"Damned matchmaking machine…"

But he wasn't really mad. Not really.

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><p><strong>So, I hope that it was enjoyable...but we REALLY needed a romance fic between these two out there. Romana I is one of the most underrated companions ever...after Liz Shaw and possibly Nyssa, of course...<strong>

**Please leave a review and let me know what you thought!**

**-MayFairy :)**


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